There are those in Sardinia who have already lit it between 16 and 17 January, but in Esterzili "Su fogu 'e Sant'Antoni", the bonfire in honor of Sant'Antonio Abate - one of the most invoked saints on the island - it will burn on Saturday evening.

The people of Esterzile gather in Gecas and around the fire they exchange wine and food prepared for the occasion. A deeply felt anniversary, a symbol of aggregation and sharing, whose boundary between pagan and Christian merges to the point of being lost. “Sant'Antoni 'e su fogu” is the festival that kicks off the local festivals for next year and the Carnival which will last a few weeks.

For days, the people of Esterzile have been preparing the wood which they will leave outside their front door on Saturday morning. The committee will then collect it and take it to the square to light the bonfire in the center of the square in the evening. The ceremony begins at 6pm . Don Alfredo Diaz, in procession, goes around the fire three times, blessing it before lighting it. While the members of the Committee prepare dinner for the whole community based on wild boar and sheep, red wine, homemade bread and Sardinian sweets, traditional Sardinian dances will be danced, accompanied by Lamberto Lai's accordion.

From midnight, however, there will be space for Emiliano's DJ set offered by the young people of the town. The festival is organized by fifty-year-olds, this year therefore the 1974 draft, together with local hunting groups with the help of associations.

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